Two small aircraft collided in mid-air and crashed near the Krems-Gneixendorf civil airfield in Lower Austria on Monday morning, killing both pilots, according to Austrian police and multiple local media reports.

The collision occurred at around 9:15 a.m. local time at an altitude of roughly 350 metres, close to the airfield located north of Krems an der Donau, in the Wachau wine-growing region. Police spokesperson Johann Baumschlager confirmed that the crash killed the pilots, aged 36 and 70.

According to initial findings reported by Austrian outlets, one of the two ultralight aircraft had been towing a glider into the air. After the glider disengaged and landed safely, the tow plane is believed to have turned to head back toward the airfield, at which point it collided with a second ultralight aircraft that had just taken off from Gneixendorf.

The cause of the collision remains unclear, and Austria's regional criminal investigation office (Landeskriminalamt) has taken over the inquiry, with the federal Safety Investigation Authority also involved, according to reports.

Both aircraft caught fire after crashing into vineyards near the airfield, with wreckage scattered across a wide area. Around 160 emergency personnel, including firefighters, paramedics, and police, responded to the scene.

Rescue crews initially had to hold back from approaching the wreckage because it was unclear whether the pyrotechnic charges of the aircraft's ballistic parachute rescue systems had been triggered; water cannons were later used to fully extinguish smouldering debris, according to local reports.

Neither aircraft carried passengers apart from the pilots, authorities said.

Local tabloid Krone reported that one of the victims was believed to be a former hospital medical director who also served as long-time president of a sailing club in Krems, while the other was a Lower Austrian entrepreneur—identities that have not been officially confirmed by police, who, in line with standard Austrian privacy practice, have not released the victims' names.

Source: Krone/NÖN/SN.at/Heute.at